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Stosur vows to succeed at Wimbledon

LONDON - Australian number one Samantha Stosur refuses to give up on her Wimbledon dream despite being dumped out of the tournament in the first round.

Sixth seed Stosur, this year’s beaten French Open finalist, was defeated 4-6, 4-6 by Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi, ranked 74 places below the Australian, to add to her miserable record at the season’s third Grand Slam.

Her best effort was the third round last season but the 26-year-old is refusing to give up on her dream of conquering grass and follow in the footsteps of her Wimbledon-winning compatriots Margaret Court and Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

“Hopefully I will have a few more years to come back here,” she said.

“I would love to do well here. As Australians we’ve always had a great tradition of doing well here.

“I haven’t been able to have my own success yet but I am still hopeful in years ahead I will be able to turn it round.

“Maybe it was the grass, maybe it wasn’t but you can’t change the surface you are on at Wimbledon. I knew I was going out to play on that surface, it is not an excuse. You have got to prepare yourself to do it every day. I tried my best, I just didn’t win.”

Stosur, who is playing in the ladies’ and mixed doubles here, plans to return home after the tournament for a week’s rest before preparing for events in the United States, including the US Open.

Stosur was upbeat about her season so far, saying she would have taken a first round exit at Wimbledon and a runners-up spot in Paris if it had been offered at the start of the season.

“I guess you would be happy - but you would also hope to do better here,” she said.

“Looking at the whole picture I have got to be very happy with what I have achieved over the last few weeks and I will go home pretty happy.

“I want to kick on from where I was before the last two weeks. I’m really looking forward to the US summer, I am on surfaces that I really like to play. I had good success there last year and I going to definitely try to build on that.”

However, Stosur insisted she had not felt flat due to her efforts in France in May but acknowledged that she must back up her successes to join the very top rank of the game.

Stosur, the world number six, said: “It is difficult but the champions of the game can do it back to back. I guess that is the kind of pedestal you want to try to look up to and try to get to yourself.

“There is no doubt it is a quick turnaround but I played at Eastbourne and had a few good matches there and came here and felt as ready as I could be. I am not going to use that as an excuse, it is the same for everyone.

“That is the way it is, you deal with it and try to cope with it the best you can. I felt pretty good and I practised pretty well in the last couple of days, I just didn’t play my best.”